CANADA STOCKS-TSX hits 6-mth low, gripped by global growth fears

* TSX down 233.24 points, or 1.61 percent, at 14,227.36
* All 10 main index sectors fall
* CP Rail, CN Rail among biggest heavyweight decliners
By John Tilak
TORONTO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index
recorded its biggest drop in more than a year and hit a
six-month low on Friday as worries about global economic growth
hit shares in every major market sector.
With the export-oriented Canadian market and its commodity
sectors increasingly focused on the prospects for the global
economy, sluggish data from Germany and a bearish forecast from
the International Monetary Fund this week have raised red flags.
Shares of energy producers, which have been under pressure
for the past three months as oil prices have fallen, were among
the biggest heavyweight decliners on the Toronto stock market's
benchmark TSX index.
The index dropped in four of the five trading sessions this
week and has shed about 9 percent since reaching a record high
last month.
"You could say the markets go up like escalators and go down
like elevators," said Matt Skipp, president of SW8 Asset
Management. "You could put this down as the inevitable
correction."
He said the Canadian equity market is overvalued in the
context of worries about the global economy.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index
closed down 233.24 points, or 1.61 percent, at
14,227.36. All 10 main sectors on the index were in the red.
The index at one point hit 14,188.75, its lowest level since
late March.
Among energy shares, Suncor Energy Inc gave back 2.3
percent to C$36.66 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd
lost 1.5 percent to C$38.48.
Industrials shed 2.7 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd
fell 4.7 percent to C$212.20, and Canadian National
Railway Co was down 3 percent at C$72.25.
Shares in several Canadian medical marijuana companies on
the small-cap TSX Venture Exchange fell after Reuters reported
that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was interested in
U.S. investors in Canadian marijuana firms.
OrganiGram Holdings Inc dropped 3.5 percent,
Bedrocan Cannabis Corp fell 5.6 percent, Tweed Marijuana
Inc declined 6.1 percent, and Mettrum Health Corp
slipped 10.8 percent.
($1=$1.12 Canadian)
(Editing by Peter Galloway and Chris Reese)